A Fae's Blood Debt

Silas I sat at my desk watching the rain fall as my uncle and his advisors droned on about the same topics we had discussed last quarter. Nothing ever changed, not for us anyway. Humans were blissfully unaware of the monsters surrounding them. Still, my uncle was a paranoid man. He liked to cross his 't's and dot his 'i's. I should give him credit. He was the reason any of us were employed to begin with. Not that any of us wanted that either. Except maybe Lydia. She enjoyed work. More than that, she enjoyed working with humans. I couldn't say the same. "Silas, our properties on the east side, are those all," Uncle Marcus began. "All the paperwork is in order. Insurance has been renewed." I quickly cut him off. "Titles are all in order. Money is still coming in. All is as we discussed." "Any unusual activity?" "Nothing from humans or otherwise." "Excellent," Uncle Marcus said over the phone. "Well, gentlemen, I think that covers everything. We will speak again three moons from now." I used the butt of my pen to hit the end call button on my desk phone, cracking my neck as I stood. My phone pinged then. Lydia's name at the top. Are you around?? Do me a favor?? I groaned, letting my head tip back. If there was one thing I hated more than working with humans, it was doing favors for Lydia. What do you want? If I send you a small list, will you go to the store for me?? What am I your f*****g maid? I scoffed to myself. You can't go? The inn is swamped right now, and I'm short-staffed. SOS I cursed myself even as I typed the words. Send me the list. Thank you!!! Pulling my suit jacket on, I shoved my phone into my pocket and headed for the door. It was a quick drive, everything around here was. Blackthorn was a small, but ever-growing, town. The rain was merciless, coming down in buckets as I abandoned my vehicle for the supermarket. A few people tried to say hello — they always did. Everyone wanted to be friends with the Ashfords. We owned more than half the town after all. We had the power to make or break dreams around here. And humans knew it. They were drawn to it like moths to a flame. My phone pinged as I grabbed a basket. Flipping to Lydia's messages, I cursed myself for giving her my number in the first place. A get well soon card Fresh flowers — at least two bouquets. Three if they have them. Lemon cookies from the bakery Tampons What the f**k Lydia? I ground my teeth together heading for the card section first. I grabbed the first one I saw that read 'Get Well' and headed for the half-dead flowers, blindly grabbing the only two left. The bakery was sold out of the lemon cookies — it was just past lunch after all. I settled for lemon bars, hoping Lydia would do the same. And then I headed for the feminine products, wondering if this was really what my existence had come to. Of course, it was the one aisle that had more than one option. And of course, I wasn't alone. A young woman was there, studying labels as hard as I was about to. She was soaked to the bone, her dark hair matted to her face. The rain hadn't shown her mercy either. "Are these all the same?" I asked. She paused, her eyes darting my way for a split second before going back to the shelf. "No." She gave a single shake of her head. "Of course not." I let out a heavy sigh. "Which would you recommend?" "Uh, these are fine." She handed me a box that boasted about different sizes, her face flushing bright red even beneath the hood that tried and failed to hide her embarrassment. Our fingers brushed for a split second. Something tingled beneath my skin. She pulled away quickly. Strange. "For my cousin. She knows no bounds," I shrugged, tucking them into the basket. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you before—" I began, but when I looked up, she was gone. I let out a long breath. Another reason why I didn't engage with humans. Rude creatures, that's what they were. Checking my phone, I found Lydia had sent me three more items. I was quick to grab them and head for the checkout line, promising myself I'd never let her convince me to do her a favor ever again. That's when I saw her. There were only two checkout lanes, and one was closed. The other was being manned by a ninety-year-old bitty who already had one foot in the grave. She claimed she enjoyed the work, that it kept her feeling young. Maybe that was true. But I think she stayed for the gossip. It didn't matter to me. So long as I got through this f*****g line before I too, faced death's doorstep. "Your total is . . ." The old woman's shaky hands raised her glasses to the tip of her nose as she squinted to see the total on the screen. "Forty-two dollars and fifteen cents." "Oh. But the sign said the bread was on sale." The young woman frowned. "That's only if you buy two," the old woman said. "What about the deli meat? That had a sign too." "It did? I don't know about that one . . ." She picked up the phone, her voice shaking as she spoke. "Manager to lane two please, uh, manager to lane two." I could feel the blood running through my veins as I dropped my basket onto the conveyor belt. "Sorry." The girl murmured, wringing out her hands. "It's fine," I quipped. The manager came over, a bored look on his face. "You called?" "This girl says the deli meat was on sale?" "There was a sign," she quickly added. "Did you clip the coupon?" "Coupon?" "In the weekly print," he said. "There might be a few at the front still. If you wanted, I could see—" "Oh, for f***s sake, I'll cover it if it means we can get moving," I said, pulling out my wallet. "I can pay for myself." The young woman snapped, pulling out her wallet. I couldn't help but notice the wad of cash resting inside. Odd. Why nickle-and-dime something when you were carrying that much cash on hand? She forked over a one-hundred-dollar bill which a security marker proved to be legitimate and all but ran out of the market. "Ah, Mr. Ashford, so good to see you." The old woman's voice trembled. "Who was that?" I asked. "I've never seen her before." The old woman shook her head. "Must be visiting someone from out of town." "I suppose." It was the only reasonable option. Though most townsfolk would scream from the hilltops if they had a relative coming to visit. Pride and envy would spread through the town. There had been none of that. The old bitty standing before me would be the one to know. The tourist season was well over with school being back in session. The next wave wouldn't be for another month, when humans celebrated Halloween. No one willingly moved here, plus nothing was for sale. I would know. So what the hell was she doing here? I dismissed the thought, deciding it was not worth my time. I had better things to do than worry about a human. And yet... My magic hadn't stirred like that in years. When I stepped outside, I scanned the parking lot for her. I took a deep breath, searching for her scent that the rain had already dragged away. She was only a human, I told myself. Only a human.